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The Combat Dietitian

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The Combat Dietitian

Jack Doherty
Bachelor of Exercise & Health Science
Masters of Dietetics 2021
Team member at &
combat.dietitian@gmail.com

31/03/2026

Most testosterone issues during a cut don’t come from dieting itself. They come from pushing calories too low, fats too low, and staying in an aggressive deficit for too long. That’s when recovery drops, sleep worsens, strength stalls, and hormones start taking a hit.

A smarter cut keeps protein high, fats at a functional level, and the deficit aggressive only when it’s strategic and time-limited. Keep lifting heavy, prioritise sleep, and avoid trying to rush fat loss faster than your body can realistically sustain.

Getting lean shouldn’t come at the cost of feeling flat, weak, and run down. The goal is to lose fat while keeping performance, muscle, and hormones working for you … not against you.

28/03/2026

Finalising fight week with my guys , and now it’s their time to do what they do best!

Fight week is where the small details matter most. Every gram tracked, every meal has a purpose, nothing left to chance. This week is just about tightening things up and executing the last element to the process.

Now the work is done, weight on point, fuel is where it needs to be, and it’s their time to step in and show the world why they are the best.

Proud to be part of the process with these guys.

19/03/2026

Most individuals have already tried different nutrition plans, approaches, and strategies, often with short-term success, but no real consistency

Because the issue isn’t effort
And it’s not a lack of information
It’s a lack of alignment

A nutrition audit looks deeper

Not just at what you’re doing
But how everything connects
Energy intake
Macronutrients
Diet quality
Recovery
Bloodwork
Training demands

Individually, these may look fine
But without alignment, progress stalls

When everything is assessed properly
And interpreted correctly
You get clarity
You get structure
And you find the most efficient path forward

Clarity over complexity

16/03/2026

.cairns18 showed exactly what happens when discipline outside the gym matches the work inside it. The win on the weekend was well deserved, but what people don’t see is the consistency behind the scenes that made it possible.

From the start, Steven has taken his nutrition seriously. Not just during fight camp or fight week, but year round. That means prioritising diet quality, fuelling hard training properly, keeping body composition in a healthy range, and creating an internal environment that allows the body to adapt, recover and perform.

A lot of athletes treat nutrition as a short term tool for making weight. Our approach is different. We focus on building a foundation of high quality foods, structured intake, and consistency over long periods of time. When that foundation is in place, weight cuts become smoother, recovery is better, training output stays high and performance on fight night improves.

Steven has bought fully into that process. He shows up, executes the plan and treats his nutrition with the same professionalism as his training. That level of focus compounds over time and the results speak for themselves.

Great performance and a great win. Proud to be part of the process and excited to keep building from here.

10/03/2026

Calories and macros set the framework of a diet. They tell us how much energy is entering the system and help align nutrition with training demands and performance goals.

But they don’t tell the full story.

The foods delivering those macros shape the internal environment your body operates within. Micronutrient density, fibre diversity, fatty acid composition, and overall diet structure influence how energy is processed, how well you recover, how stable your metabolism is, and how effectively your body adapts to training.

Two diets can look identical on paper from a macro perspective, yet create very different physiological outcomes.

The next evolution in nutrition isn’t abandoning calories and macros. It’s building on them, by improving diet quality so the internal environment supports better recovery, stronger physiology, and long-term performance.

06/03/2026

High performance nutrition It is about aligning energy intake and macronutrients with training load, session demands, and the specific goals of the athlete whilst also improving diet quality, micronutrient density, and ensuring the body has the nutritional environment required to adapt and perform.

This means looking deeper.
Assessing bloodwork.
Refining supplementation where needed.
Individualisation at each step.

Because performance is not built on effort alone. It is built on individual data points, feedback systems and experience.

When energy availability, macronutrients, diet quality, and internal health are aligned, improvements in energy, recovery, and performance follow at the highest level.

High performance is built, not guessed

03/03/2026

Refining the weight cut is everything.

The smaller the percentage of bodyweight you pull in fight week, the better the outcome. Not just on the scales, but in the cage.

When the body isn’t dragged into the weigh-in compromised, it’s in a far healthier and more optimised position to refuel and rehydrate properly. Glycogen loads better. Fluids restore faster. Electrolytes balance easier. Performance comes back online instead of just survival mode.

Less stress. Better recovery. Sharper output.

That’s the difference between making weight… and making a statement.

25/02/2026

Working with as both a client and a friend for years now has been one of the greatest evolutions of my coaching career.

What started as “make weight and perform” has turned into a constant refinement of process. Every camp we’ve tightened things up. Better data. Better communication. Better adjustments. Smarter refeeds. Cleaner cuts. Less guesswork. More precision.

We’ve learned his body across stress blocks, injuries, travel, fight weeks etc. We’ve seen how his weight responds to sodium, sleep, inflammation, volume, mindset. We’ve refined how aggressively we push and when we pull back. When to fuel harder. When to protect recovery.

Nutrition at this level isn’t just calories and macros. It’s timing. It’s psychology. It’s nervous system management. It’s making sure he performs on the night

23/02/2026

Ramadan Nutrition

Nutrition related goals may not be the priority during this month of worship, but it can be a tool to help the body and mind feel its best!

21/02/2026

5+ Year Working together now, and dedication to training and nutrition has never faltered, a true 365 day a year athlete in all respects!

Nothing but elite

18/02/2026

High Volume Low Calorie Meals

Learn how to eat to keep you on track

High volume = increased satiety

13/02/2026

Cutting. Rebuilding. Pushing output. Repeating.

I have lived it personally.

I have worked with athletes operating at a high level across multiple disciplines.

The deeper I move into this space, the clearer something becomes.

Much of the current nutrition conversation, not just in combat sport but across performance and physique culture, is still surface level.

Hit your calories.
Get enough protein.
Stay flexible.
Trust the deficit.

For many people, that is enough to see change.

It is not enough to build or sustain elite performance.
There is a difference between dieting and preparing.
There is a difference between weight loss and adaptation.

There is a difference between looking lean and performing under load.

Nutrition at a higher level is not simply arithmetic.
It is physiology.
It is timing.
It is context.
It is feedback.

Energy availability determines hormonal output.

Carbohydrate availability influences training quality and recovery.

Micronutrient sufficiency underpins mitochondrial function.

Fat intake modulates endocrine resilience.

Sodium, hydration and glycogen alter how you feel, move and think.

The margin for error narrows as demands increase.

What works for someone training three times a week may not work for someone training twice a day.
What works for aesthetic goals may not support long term health.

What works short term may quietly accumulate cost long term.

The body keeps score.

This is not about extremism.
It is not about rigidity.
It is not about demonising food or chasing perfection.
It is about depth.
It is about precision.
It is about systems thinking.
It is about individualisation.
It is about recognising that food is not just fuel, but information that shapes internal environment.

The more I train and the more people I work with, from everyday high performers to elite athletes, the stronger my conviction becomes.

Most people do not need more noise.

They need more depth.
More context.
More understanding.
Not louder advice.
Smarter application.
Living it. Studying it. Applying it. Sharing it.

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